Progress! Interior Department Supports Grand Canyon Uranium Mining Ban

by Jess Leber · 2011-06-28 09:58:00 UTC
Topics:

Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar traveled to the Grand Canyon to make an important announcement—that he favored a 20-year uranium mining ban around the Grand Canyon, the most environmentally-protective option on a spectrum of otherwise poor choices.

The announcement was a huge victory for many local and national coalitions across the country, who have advocated fiercely to protect one of the world's greatest natural treasures from despoilment by mining and nuclear industry interests. It was also big news for Change.org member Suzanne Sparling, an Arizona resident who started a petition on Change.org to protect the landscape and rivers she loves. Her petition allowed more than 50,000 Change.org members to tell the Interior Department to support the 20-year ban of uranium mining that Secretary Salazar set in motion last week. "This is a monumental step in showing how much we can all do when joining our voices and working together!" said Suzanne in a recent email I exchanged with her.

The victory is not yet a final one. Secretary Salazar said that he will extend a temporary ban for 6 months, and now officials will finish scientific studies necessary to enact a 20-year ban. But the announcement was a huge political victory in the face of intense industry lobbying, and supporters of the petition should feel heartened by the good news.

A recent editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune does a good job detailing what is at stake locally.

Right now, there are more than 3,000 mining claims on 1-million acres of land surrounding the Grand Canyon If these are mined, mining operations will inevitably spill radioactive contamination into streams and drinking water sources, impact wildlife, and ruin vistas and outdoor activities for millions of visiting tourists a year.

For example, in Utah, taxpayers have already paid $1 billion to clean up uranium wastes next to the Colorado River, and has seen radioactive wastes contaminate scarce groundwater supplies. The paper concludes, "Despite protests from short-sighted Utah and Arizona officials, a long-term ban is essential to protecting this valuable natural asset for all Americans."

Amen to that. Here's hoping the Interior Department follows through. You can sign this petition to thank Secretary Salazar for his decision and urge him to make it final.

Follow Change.org's Environment page on Facebook or Twitter.

Jess Leber is a Change.org editor. She most recently covered climate and energy issues as a reporter in Washington, D.C

RELATED PETITION

Thank Secretary Salazar for Supporting Grand Canyon Protections
SIGN PETITION
220 People
PREVIOUS STORY:
Russian Opposition Gathers for Summer Party in Moscow's Threatened Khimki Forest
NEXT STORY:
Stopping the Water Grab in Nevada

COMMENTS (2)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.